Dane in Dubbo

"What is Dubbo?" That was the first question 24-year-old Maria Goltermann had when she found out she would be visiting Australia from Denmark. Maria has 12 weeks to learn all she can about Dubbo, its visitor offerings and the Australian lifestyle.

Wow! Where did time go? 2 more days in Dubbo and I’m off to Sydney and then flying back to Denmark. I can’t believe this is it...
I’ve had the best time in Dubbo and Australia, I don’t even know where to start! I’ve been working full time but I’ve still had the opportunity to see what the area has to bring.
I want to tell you guys what my favourite things have been in Australia and in Dubbo, but I figured it would be too much for just one post so I’ll do my top 5 in Australia and I hope you guys will stick around for my top 5 in Dubbo later on this week.

My ultimate favourite experience in Australia has been going on Destination Outback! To those of you who haven’t heard of Destination Outback. It is a rally around the outback organized by The Rotary Club of Dubbo South. Just about 150 people did the rally and the whole point of the trip is for people to have fun and at the same time raise money to communities in the outback.
I will never forget that trip, and I would love to come back for the next one in 2018. Not just the purpose of the trip, but seeing places that not many visitors, or even Australians, have seen before was just amazing. The Outback was beautiful – and I secretly miss waking up to 145 happy faces every morning and driving around the dirt in the sun. How much better does it get?

From one part of Australia to another. Second place on my list is Sydney. Before coming here I’d heard so many opinions on which city is better, Sydney or Melbourne. Well, I haven’t been to Melbourne but I definitely know I love Sydney. It’s a beautiful city, and I’m really excited to go back this weekend, even though that means I’m not coming back to Dubbo.
I loved just walking around the harbour, shopping, not to speak of my breakfast at Bondi Beach.
I haven’t seen all there is to see in Sydney as I don’t like rushing around + I was really captivated by the places I saw. But that just means I have to come back.

Third on the list is a drive I went on during a trip to Tamworth from Uralla to Armidale. There were beautiful things to see but what made this one of my favourite things was the Dangar waterfalls. Of all the travels I have done in my life, I have never seen a waterfall, so this was a very unique experience for me. I read about the waterfalls near Armidale when I first came here and when I was given the opportunity to see them I was really excited.
I really love Australian nature, it varies so much and the trip to Tamworth and Armidale was no exception.

Talking about nature, my trip to Capertee was really exceptional too. I had only been here for a couple of weeks when I went on this trip, so seeing the mountains and the small villages was all new to me. No we don’t have mountains in Denmark, yes I have seen mountains before. But nothing like the Australian mountains. I remember that was the first thing my grandfather told me to do “Go see the Blue Mountains Maria!”. And of course the Canyon at the Capertee Valley which was also my first time seeing a canyon. Lots of 1sts here. Which makes it so much more memorable.

Last but not least is Wagga Wagga, which was very special to me, this was my first “longer” trip (which I know of course is no distance for people in Dubbo), and although I did not see much of the city, I still got to see the Uni-life in Australia, which was a good experience for a uni-girl like myself. I enjoy seeing how University differs around the world, which I wrote more about in my previous blog post “…From Wagga with love”. I wish I had time to go back again, but I’ll save that for next time.

I feel blessed to have seen all these different parts of NSW and Queensland (Destination Outback) I can’t wait to go home and tell my friends and family and I certainly can’t wait to come back an experience even more of Australia!
Next up I’ll tell you guys about my favorites in Dubbo – Have a great sunny week :)

A quote by the amazing Danish author – Hans Christian Andersen, and as you all probably have realised by now, that is quote I like to live by.
Last week I went on a little day trip to Wellington with the PR department at council, a quick stop for lunch at the local pub “Cow and Calf” and then we were off to take photos of attractions. Wellington is a really nice little town that really indicates, what I would have thought to be, the authentic Australian country town, with beautiful buildings and cute little shops and houses. Not to mention an amazing bakery!

Kangaroo talking to cows

We found the Burrendong Dam!

The place to go for a good meal in Wellington!

A few days later I went with my host family to Wagga Wagga for a birthday getaway (or escape) for my host father.

I was told that Wagga would be cold, so I put on 3 layers of clothes a jacket and my scarf, all ready for the close-to-snowing weather. After the 5 hour drive, we arrive in Wagga, get out of the car ready to watch rugby at the Uni, stands there for 15 minutes and realise if I don’t get out of all that clothes I would probably pass out! What is it with this Aussie weather? Getting all ready for a Danish-like winter day and turns out to be a Danish summer day.

Anyway, it turned out for the better, if you ask me. Perfect day to spend watching rugby. And although I’m still struggling with the rules, I find it a lot of fun to watch and of course the team that, I was told to go for won! I feel sorry for the people that watch the game with me, as they spend more time answering my questions than actually watching the game. I’ll get there one day!

Game on at Charles Sturt University!

Moreover, I also got the chance to get a little insight to how Uni-life in Australia is. The school spirit and social community is such a big part of uni-life here, and the fact that many of the students actually live together on campus or just outside seem to bring people even closer together. Whether it was at the game or at the party later, the school spirit was there.

Uni-life is a lot different in Denmark. People are spread out all over the city, and you mainly just get to know the people from your course and Uni sports teams are not a big part of it. Not said that going to university in Denmark is not great though. We do have major events throughout the year where thousands of people turn up, however I believe that we could learn something from Aussies here. :)

Sunday in Wagga, was spent at the beautiful Botanic Garden, a perfect day in perfect weather. I nearly couldn’t believe it myself, but it was actually warmer here than back in Denmark that day. Fortunately, my father told me yesterday that the temperature had gone up to 48 degrees. YES, Denmark does have summer!
In the Botanic Garden, I just enjoyed that little bit of sun I will see this year.

AND my gorgeous host brothers taught me how to do a line-out. Maybe I don’t know the rules but I always thought the line-outs looked like so much fun! HIGHLIGHT OF THE DAY! :)

Anyhow, a great weekend in Wagga, and it was a tired Dane that came home to Dubbo that Sunday night. We came back to a big roast feast, and unfortunately I’m still struggling with the lamb, but boy is the beef good here in Australia! :D